Page 79 of Flirty Dancing

“Nonsense. Of course, you can connect. You’ve connected with Archer, haven’t you?”

“Um—I—”

Archer wanted to melt into the cushions while Mateo floundered.

“Yes, it can be difficult to connect witheveryone,” Eileen continued, much to Archer’s relief, “but I think, Mateo, some of them can sense the wall you have up.”

Mateo bristled. “I don’t have a wall.”

“Er…” Archer shared a glance with Eileen. “There might be a tiny wall, Mateo.”

Mateo looked between Archer and Eileen. “I don’t, I—” He slumped back against the couch. “Fuck.”

Archer placed a reassuring hand on his knee. “Look, it’s not just you. Caleb is a lot, and the B-Boys clearly have their own… issues. But I know you have what it takes to get everyone together.”

“Something to think about,” Eileen said, raising her cup to her lips. “Now, have one of these muffins before they cool, won’t you?”

The next afternoon, Archer was lounging on the dock with Caleb, Gage, River, and a handful of other dancers, baking in the scorching July heat, when a shadow fell over his face. He cracked an eye open against the glare and saw the dark shape of Mateo against the bright blue sky. “Hey!” Archer smiled up at him. Mateo hadn’t hung out on the dock with them in weeks.

“Deigning to join us, are you?” Caleb drawled from his towel.

Mateo squinted. “Seems that way.”

Archer shuffled his towel over to make room for Mateo’s. “Welcome.”

Caleb leaned back, folding his arms under his head. “Careful, Mateo. You wouldn’t want to accidentally relax and have fun.”

Archer shook his head. “Jesus, Caleb. Give him a break.”

There was a silence on the dock. A few of the others exchanged glances.

“I was just joking,” Caleb said with a pout.

Something inside Archer snapped—the growing feeling of wrongness burst out from wherever he had been stuffing it down. He got to his feet. “Caleb,” he said. “Can we talk for a minute?”

“Um, sure?”

Heart racing, Archer turned and walked down the dock and up the steps of the cabin porch, Caleb following. Archer led him around the side, where they had at least a modicum of privacy.

“What is it?” Caleb said when Archer stopped and turned to face him.

Archer rubbed the back of his neck. “Listen… I’ve had a lot of fun with you this summer.”

“I’ve had fun, too, Archer.” Caleb took Archer’s hand.

Archer blew out a breath and took his hand back. “But…”

Caleb’s face fell. “But…?”

“But I… I don’t think I can be in a relationship with you anymore.”

Caleb’s eyes grew impossibly wide, searching Archer’s face. “You’re serious?”

Archer nodded. “Yes. I’m sorry.”

“But why?”

Fuck. Archer struggled to find the words for the wrongness that had become impossible to ignore and was, in fact, growing by the minute, now that he had freed it. “I don’t think that, ultimately, we are compatible.”

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